Secret Service Agents Reportedly Had Sex With Prostitutes In El Salvador In 2011

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 13: U.S. President Barack Obama (blue shirt) surrounded by Secret Service agents walks away after a visit to the Port of Tampa on April 13, 2012 in Tampa, Florida. The President, on his way to the Summit of the Americas in Colombia, used the visit to emphasis small business trade with countries in Latin America. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)President Barack Obama surrounded by Secret Service agents walks away after a visit to the Port of Tampa on April 13, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. (credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) — The fallout over the Secret Service prostitution scandal continues.

Secret Service agents had sex with strippers and prostitutes in El Salvador in March 2011 ahead of a presidential trip, according to CBS affiliate KIRO-TV.

A U.S. government subcontractor who worked with the agents ahead of President Obama’s El Salvador trip told KIRO that he saw about a dozen agents and a few U.S. military specialists getting “wasted” and paying for sexual favors at a strip club.

When the subcontractor witnessed a couple of the agents bringing escorts back to the hotel, the agents told him they “did this all the time” and “not to worry about it,” according to the station.

The owner of the strip club confirmed to KIRO that Secret Service agents were there at that time last year. He did not say if the girls had sex with the agents inside or outside the club.

This new report comes as a dozen Secret Service agents and U.S. military personnel are being investigated for cavorting with prostitutes in Colombia. At least nine Secret Service agents have been let go over the incident and the Defense Department has suspended the security clearances of the military personnel being investigated.

As many as 20 prostitutes were involved with the group, officials say, and none are believed to be underage.

The incident broke into public view when one of the prostitutes argued with a Secret Service agent over her payment in a hallway of the Caribe hotel. Local law enforcement intervened on the prostitute’s behalf. Paid sex is legal in Cartagena, but violates codes of conduct for U.S. personnel who were working there.

In an interview Tuesday on NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” Obama said that members of the Secret Service do a great job “99.9 percent” of the time, and put their lives on the line.

“A couple of knuckleheads shouldn’t detract from what they do,” Obama said. “What these guys were thinking, I don’t know. That’s why they’re not there anymore.

The president added: “These guys are incredible. They protect me. They protect Michelle. They protect the girls. They protect our officials all around the world.”